Just the Beginning...

Alison here...

So our last blog will be just like our last couple days have been~~reflective. We have been together nonstop for 13 weeks (our favorite number) and we are closer than ever. Funny, when we left, we had no idea what day we would leave or for how long we were leaving. We felt much like a boat with no rudders or oars being led only by a Divine Hand.

Our stats:
We left on a Saturday, August 21st. We are arriving home on a Saturday, November 20th. 3 months exactly.
We figure we have stopped at around 75 gas stations averaging 20 minutes per fuel-up (thanks to Mable’s slow drinking habits), equaling about 25 hours standing at gas pumps.
We started with 87,268 miles on our old, but new-to-us RV, Able Mable. By the time we get home, she claims 98,848 miles. That’s a grand total of 11,580 miles on this trip. We figure Christian’s put in around 228 hours of driving at an average of 50 mph. That would be like driving 30 days at an average of 8 hours a day or driving 10 straight 24 hour days. Well, I did drive for 10 minutes so don’t forget to subtract that. :o)
We traveled through our remaining 13 states to bring our grand total to 48! This trip we drove through a total of 35 states!
We passed through 9 mountain chains (oh, boy, did we ever!), put our feet into both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and explored 6 national parks including Badlands, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Painted Desert, and Zion.

Also, several state parks where we hiked, biked, and climbed mountains.
We have been in 105 degree blazing sun, a near-miss of a hurricane (that rain was ridiculous), 50 mph winds more than once, blizzards (thank you, Jesus, only while we slept), beautiful fall leaves, sunsets, rainbows.
We have seen more wild buffaloes than we can count, wolves, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, a California condor, a seal, a bear, moose, prairie dogs, mule deer, antelope, white-tail deer, alligators, jellyfish, a badger, foxes, crabs, anoles, a tarantula, longhorn cattle, coyotes, a snake, and rode horses on a Texas dude ranch. And let's not forget the little mouse that took up residence for a few days and stared me in the face while I was in my bed one morning!
We have crossed paths with dozens of strangers instantly turned into friends we can’t wait to see again someday—if not on earth then certainly in heaven.

Now, I will let you in on our conversation as we reminisce…

Scariest Moment~
Justin-"Pushing the RV through the desert when it died going down the road because the fuel pump died. It was scary because there was nothing for 30 miles in either direction and it was too heavy for Dad and I to push further."
To finish this story, we prayed and God allowed the engine to start, get us to the next town over 20 miles away where it was repaired by the next day.
Addie-"Going through the Appalachian mountains in the RV, standing on the Hoover Dam bridge,

when Mom, Kyrsten, and Justin ran towards the bear, waking up to the RV swaying back and forth 'cause of the crazy storms, and sleeping in Walmart parking lots where the crazy thugs are."
Kyrsten-"When Mom got sick with food poisoning in the RV and she was kinda yelling because it hurt so bad and I remember sitting in the rental car sobbing because I was so scared, and I wondered if my mom was going to be okay."
Alison-"The drive through North Dakota in the dark when Mable made a horrible noise and the engine changed and starting roaring was horrible. We had no cell service for hours and there was no sign of civilization so even our RV roadside assistance was not available. We had to get well into Montana that night and while still in ND we hit the worst road construction—I’m talking one lane of only dirt with cones scattered all over, ruts and holes that slowed us down to about 15 mph—and we just didn’t know if we were gonna make it there."
Christian-"The mountain pass late at night in CA with 50 mph wind gusts and having to steer into it. I was literally fighting to stay on the road when the gusts would hit."

Favorite moment(s)~
Kyrsten-"Sticking pennies to the wall because I had just found a new friend and we were doing this amazing thing together that increased our faith,

and horseback riding on the dude ranch, building a snowman with Justin in Amarillo,

playing with the dogs at Grandpa’s, playing in the ocean with Justin and Addie, and playing with the baby kittens at the ranch."
Addie-"Meeting Hannah and staying at her house, the alpaca store and Yellowstone."
Alison-"Seeing a real, live, bear in the wild. Listening to my kids laugh and play in the ocean, and every single other minute except the food poisoning and ND."
Justin-"First time seeing wild buffalo in the Badlands."
Christian-"The Badlands—seeing the buffalo and getting within 100 yards of one, when Justin and I went to the Wind Cave in Wyoming and crawled through spaces I never thought I would fit in let alone enjoy."

Song that best describes the trip or meant the most while on the trip~
Addie-(whole CD’s that she will identify with this trip) Chris Tomlin “Hello, Love,” Tenth Avenue North “Healing Begins,” Hillsong “Beautiful Exchange.”
Alison-(songs) Nat King Cole, “Route 66,” Need to Breathe “The Outsiders,” Billy Holiday “Getting Some Fun Out of Life,” Hillsong, “Forever Reign,” and Kari Jobe, “I’m in Love with You.”
Christian-“All I Need is You,” Caleb Rowden
Justin-3:10 to Yuma Soundtrack
Kyrsten-The Relient K Christmas CD that I got for my birthday and Tenth Avenue North, “Oh, Dear” because it reminds me about how much I love Jesus.
Lily-“Route 66!” We will post a video soon of her singing it. Every time we put it on, she would sing her little heart out!!

Favorite Food (on the trip)~
Kyrsten-I" loved the turtle cheesecake I got for my birthday dinner even though I stuffed myself so much that I almost barfed and the chocolate cake at Cheddar’s because the frosting was soooooo good."
Justin-"The smoked salmon/cream cheese, pizza in Idaho"
Christian-"The pizza from the place in Idaho with Greek olives, cappicola, and olive oil instead of marinara."
Addie-"The smoked salmon/cream cheese pizza in Idaho"
Alison-"The amazing pork chop stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella (that the chef emailed me the recipe for) from Idaho! I will be making this one when I get home!! And surprisingly, the ribeye made by a cowboy at a dude ranch (I never like steak!). Oh, and fresh avocados from the tree."

Most important lesson or skill you learned~
Addie-"God is faithful. He will always provide in His timing. He doesn't change. We can't box Him into our circumstances.
And I now can easily use the bathroom at 60 mph."
Alison-"I am NEVER in a place where God cannot take care of me. Whether it’s stranded in the middle of nowhere or needing His touch deep in my Spirit. I never had a moment where I found myself really wondering if we’d be okay. If Mable broke, I would just pray. And He ALWAYS came through. I will take that with me forever. Plus, I learned to cook without hot water in teeny, tiny spaces."
Kyrsten-"I came closer to God and He proved Himself to me. I realized that no matter what, He’s there for me, even when the RV breaks down in the middle of the desert. I learned that I can hold on to a horse even when it takes off galloping through a field and doesn’t want to stop."
Christian-"What hit me the most was when Dave fixed the vehicle. He did what God told him to do and it met our needs and his in a huge way. Nothing the enemy does can ever surprise God. God will always fulfill His plans to prosper us. Jeremiah 29:11!!!"
--Christian is too humble to claim skills, but let me tell you, he has impressed this family. He has fixed multiple engine parts, doors, water pumps, fiberglass…
He has single-handedly, and safely navigated a 35 foot rig (with all its bikes and extras on the back) through major cities, a million crowded parking lots, mountains, and the list goes on. He is nothing short of amazing.--

Justin-"Dad and I have the strength to push the RV 400 yards, but when my strength is gone, I can depend on my God Who can take me over 11,000 miles.
And, life is what you make it."
--Justin co-piloted next to his Dad the entire trip. The intention was for him to learn how to navigate a country and he did his job incredibly well. He also learned every aspect of RV life from the hands-on approach which will serve him very well as he begins the next part of his journey with Mable as his home in MS.--

We are almost home. We have lived, learned, and laughed much. We have lived out a dream and seen the hand of God more times than we can count; from His magnificent creation to His providence to His miraculous intervention. We have learned what we can live without, and that all we really need is each other and our God. It might be healthy to simplify.
We have asked God for a lot and He delivered EVERY SINGLE TIME. We defied all the odds—sticking various metals to walls, paths that crossed with people we would never have ordinarily met, the RV emergencies covered…all of it points to Him.
He gets all the glory. We are grateful.
'Til the next adventure…

Isaiah 46:4~I am He who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Philippians 4:19~And my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus

Justin's viewpoint...

Ok, so I guess it’s finally my turn to write the blog, I put it off the whole time but now it’s my turn. I’m pretty much just going to explain what this trip has been overall from my perspective, basically a big highlight reel ha ha.
My favorite thing I’ve seen on this trip has been buffalo. I love those guys. In Yellowstone we saw the biggest on the trip and it doesn’t even seem real how big they are. Almost like an elephant or something.

My favorite day was probably spelunking in Wyoming. Dad and I pushed the limits as to how tight a space we could fit in and it was only by Gods grace that we didn’t get stuck. At one point it was no more than fourteen to eighteen inches from the roof to the ceiling and no wider than two feet. It will definitely be someplace I go explore more at some point in my life, but probably with more safety gear.
The coolest things I got on this trip are my cowboy boots, and not just because they look AWESOME, but because of all the memories that are attached to them. I got them new at Wall Drug in Wall South Dakota, and have tried to take such good care of them they only have two scratches. The first scratch was in Yellowstone the day Mom and Kyrsten and I got close to the bear. While Mom and Kyrsten were looking at him I saw the bear’s fresh kill and decided I wanted some teeth from it. So, while prying the rear molars out of the skull the jaw broke and scratched my left boot.
The other scratch came in the Grand Canyon while I was climbing the edge; my right boot slipped and scratched the inner part of the toe. At first I was bummed when it happened, but now I laugh because I bet I sound like Daniel Boone or something when I tell both of those stories.

I think more than anything this trip has shown me how over-complicated we all make our lives. Tomorrow will be thirteen weeks out on the road, and for the past thirteen weeks the five of us and the dog have lived in one hundred and eighty square feet. I personally have only used public toilets so that I wouldn’t have to empty my own sewage and so everyone else wouldn’t have to put up with it. I’ve slept on a beat up nasty couch and wandered around countless states in the dark to let Lily out to go potty in the night. I’ve pushed a fifteen thousand pound RV through the desert and in the mountains, repaired it in one hundred degrees and in thirty degrees because there was no other choice. But I wouldn’t trade any of it, and I do mean any of it, for the world. Because in the end, that IS the world--what I’ve done and where I’ve been and who I’ve met on this trip is the world in a nutshell. And the world rocks.
The End.

Kyrsten's Birthday

Hey! It's Kyrsten!
It's finally my turn to write. Wednesday night we ate at Lotaburger (which was really good for fast food) and stayed overnight in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was our 48th state!

The next morning my family surprised me and took me to the Apple store in Albuquerque, where I traded in my old iPod for a brand new iPod touch for my birthday.

We then traveled to Amarillo, Texas, where we stayed overnight, only to find 6 inches of snow on the ground the next morning! Fortunately, we had already decided to stay a few more nights, partly because the campground had an indoor pool, air hockey, and ping pong (a new found love of our family). So we hung out and played that day.

Justin and I even built a snowman, which we found some people taking pictures of.

The next morning was my birthday! I woke up to a bunch of smiling faces and "Happy Birthdays" all around.
Mom made apple pancakes and bacon for breakfast, then we all swam at the SUPER warm pool and hot tub. After long showers, we headed out to an early dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse, which was amazing!!!

We then went over to Target, where Justin and Addie let me pick out some Christmas PJ's, slippers, and a T-shirt (Christmas Pajamas and slippers are some of my favorite things ever!) They also got me a Christmas CD.
We stayed one more day at that campground, and on Monday we came to this AWESOME Dude Ranch. The people have been really friendly, and they made us steaks and peach cobbler for my birthday. The next day the man who works here took us on a three hour horseback ride, which was one of the highlights of the trip. At first, all of our family's horses took off really fast! I was almost in tears because my horse wouldn't stop even though I yelled "Woah" like a million times and jerked on the reigns, and Mom and Addie were laughing so hysterically they almost fell off. But the time was most enjoyable. He even took us through an area of cows and buffalo! I was really nervous.

And then we were supposed to leave today, but the wind gusts were up to 40-50 mile an hour gusts, and that would be really dangerous for Mable to drive in, so we stayed another day. We laid low and relaxed today, and the lady that works here is making us burgers tonight. Tomorrow we start the long trek home, which a lot of us aren't liking the idea of because our trip is almost over. But our trip was soooo fun and we thank God all the time for the great opportunity He has given us. Well, I hope to see you soon!

Faith is Law

We had an incredible weekend.

Before I tell you about it, I should back up a bit.
I met a girl named Hannah on a Christian teen website about 3 or 4 years ago. She is my age, and we have so much in common, but she lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. We have kept in touch all these years, we talk all the time and we pray for each other about everything. I have felt safe with sharing stuff with her that I haven’t shared with anyone else because I just have always known that she has my back. So as we were planning the trip, we decided to set aside some time where I could go and meet Hannah. We didn’t have any idea when we would be passing through Arizona, but it ended up being on my birthday!

So, on Thursday we had the privilege of going out to dinner with Hannah and her family. When we were able to see each other for the first time in person, it was SO awesome! We all got a little emotional. It was crazy how our entire families just clicked as soon we met—it was as if we’ve known them for our whole lives, when in reality, they were strangers! How cool is that?! I went back to her house with her and spent 2 nights, and I seriously had the best time that I have had on this whole trip. We stayed up late both nights and talked and we just hung out and I just felt so loved by her whole family. On Sunday, our family went back over to their house again, and had what we called “Fajita Fellowship” (: We had yummy fajitas from a restaurant recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!! Literally everyone in both of our families was having such an awesome time! Hannah has a sister, Mercy, who is 14, and she and Kyrsten were like sisters by the time the night was over. My Mom and Linda were instant friends as were my Dad and Ed. We just had a blast.
While we were there, Hannah’s family told us about a college where one of the girls was trying to put a poster up on the wall, but she didn’t have any tape. So this girl prayed that God would use this penny that she had in her pocket, to stick the poster up to the wall. God stuck the poster to the wall with the penny that she had. They started telling us about this thing that they did, where they had a lady over, and they all would pray that a penny would stick to the wall, and it did. So by this point, we were all thinking this was cool, but a little far out. Haha. I mean, really, what kind of sense does that make? Well Hannah’s younger brother, Eddie (age 9), grabbed a penny, walked up to the wall, and said “Lord, we have enough faith to believe that you will stick this penny to the wall”. Eddie let go of the penny, and it was just sticking to the wall. I still didn’t really believe it at this point, I kept asking, “Are you guys just trying to trick us?” I thought that they put something on the penny that would make it stick. They handed me a penny, and said “Go pray for it to stick to the wall, you have to have faith that it will stick.” So I prayed that God would stick the penny to the wall, and it did!! I am serious, it was like sticking up on the wall! For the next 2 hours everyone was running around the house sticking pennies to everything—door hinges, ceilings, walls, the trim; and sometimes the pennies wouldn’t stick, but for the most part, the pennies were sticking. I know this probably sounds a little cracked out. Like really, why would God stick a penny to the wall for us? Well, why not? All of us were trying our faith, we all felt completely insane when we were trying to defy the law of gravity by believing that a penny was just going to stick to the wall. I believe that God was giving us an example of what our faith can do. God said that with faith, we can move mountains; so is sticking a penny to the wall too much faith? I don’t think so. It was like evidence that He was there. It was proof that our God is bigger than science.It was one of the coolest things ever! 2 of the pennies are still sticking to the wall right now (:

We can't even wait to see our new family again (:

And today we went to the Grand Canyon! Wow. I can't even think of what to say about it, except that it is incredible and we had a blast...

We are slowly starting our journey home now. We have quite a ways to go, and it'll take a bit, but we're getting there. We still have some more awesome stuff planned though, and we'll continue blogging until we get home. :)
Love you guys!

Hey guys! (This is Addie :)
It's been awhile.
Okay, so the last update was right after we went to the Oregon Trail. We had to hurry and get out of Oregon, because the snow was coming :o. It got down to 18 degrees and there was 4-6 inches of snow by the time we woke up in the morning, so we had to get out of Oregon fast before the BIG snowstorm came. We had our RV break down in Klamath Falls Oregon, and a guy named Dave fixed it for us, I think my dad wants to share about that on here.

Hello all its Christian writing. I couldn't help but take the opportunity to share what happened in our travels. It is absolutely amazing to me how many things the enemy throws at all of us...everyday trials that are intended to separate us from God in some way. I cling to this verse, "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a FUTURE" Jer. 29:11. So the RV won't start after pumping fuel, turn the key and nothing. Changed the starter solenoid and nothing. Oregon has a law where you can't pump your own fuel...so fuel guy Amos shows up and says his step-dad, Dave, is a mechanic and available. Meanwhile I'm praying..."God, not sure what is up and who we're supposed to meet but I'm here." Dave shows up, come to find out he does street ministry for drug addicts/drunks on behalf of a local church. The day I broke down was his day off and he woke up saying "God, not sure who you want me to meet or want me to do, but I have no fuel and I'm willing!!" Oh, by the way, Dave was a mechanic for years at a Ford garage. Wow! That's really odd since I need a mechanic for my Ford-powered RV sitting at a gas station where there happens to be fuel for his car!! So the enemy tries to attack my family with yet another break-down, and God uses it to provide for not just my family but for Dave's family. We had God's money (tithes) waiting for a ministry to support and God saw that Dave was provided for! What the enemy has planned for your life is NO MATCH for what the Lord has planned. The enemy didn't create you with purpose, that was God's doing. A purpose and a plan, plans not to harm you but to PROSPER you!

Addie - After Dave fixed the RV, we drove into Corning, California, and we had to stay put for a day there because a crazy windstorm came through with 60 mph gusts!! That is bad news in the RV because the wind feels like it could blow the RV over. It's craziness. So after 2 nights there, we made our way down through California, into Coalinga. We just stayed one uneventful night there, and then went down to Morro Bay, on the ocean.

Justin's goal was to swim in the Atlantic and Pacific ocean on this trip. So we did just that :) Kyrsten and I hadn't planned on swimming, the water was freezing cold, but we ended up going out in the water in our clothes, and we just had a blast. We played in the waves for a super long time, and right before we left, we had a seal swim right up to us--he was SO CUTE!! It was an awesome day.
Then we drove some more to Bakersfield, California. We only stayed one night there, and then we drove some more to Boulder city, Nevada. It was right outside of Las Vegas, and it was right on Lake Mead. It was beautiful. My parents took us kids to a Las Vegas buffet in a casino. Whoa. That's all I can say about that; like every kind of food that was ever created!! I thought Kyrsten was just going to pass out when she saw the dessert area :) It was very cool.
Kyrsten's one wish from the trip was to go trick-or-treating. We ended up going to Kmart two days before Halloween, and going to some random neighborhood in Nevada to trick-or-treat! She had a lot of fun, and got a lot of good candy, so it was nice that she was still able to do that :)

After that, we started heading towards Utah, but the RV just stopped going in the middle of the desert on the highway. It literally wouldn't turn on, so the boys got out and started pushing it to get it off the road. They pushed it for a ways (GO MUSCLES) and then they got back in. We didn't know what to do except pray and the RV started going again when Dad turned the key, just randomly! PTL.
We quickly looked up the nearest mechanic, it was 20 miles away, and we made it all the way there without the boys having to push it anymore :) We had a very nice family of mechanics take care of the RV for us. They even gave us a ride to the hotel for the night. We had some time to kill, so we took Lily to her first dog-park. She didn't love it. She went and stood on a table away from the other dogs, and when we asked her if she was ready to leave she ran over to the exit as fast as she could. She is such a big baby!!
We stayed at a Best Western, and got to go in the jacuzzi and sleep in real beds. It was lovely. Our RV is running as good as new now, and we made it all the rest of the way to Utah without any other issues. So here we are!!
Zion National Park...

Tomorrow is a very special day, and I'll have a lot to catch up on after this weekend! ;)
Love you all, we'll check in soon.